Tag Archives: words

– you love words, you study words, their origins and all the nuances of their meanings. You don’t aim to dazzle readers with the knowledge you acquire, you want to be able to select the best words to make your readers see what you are seeing.

– you know that words are inadequate for what needs to be said. So you spend time searching for the words that come closest to saying what you want to say and avoid words and expressions that make no contribution to what you are trying to describe..

– you know that the reader can only see what you show him. A reader in Saskatchewan doesn’t know what a trillium looks like, or that many people in Ontario say youse when speaking to more than one person. A reader in Ontario doesn’t know what a slough is or what a chokecherry tastes like.

– you know that inspiration is not enough. Writing is the craft that brings the inspiration to life for your readers, by using just the right words and removing all the useless words that distract readers from perceiving what it was that inspired you.

– everything you see, and hear, and dream, becomes grist for your mill. You notice the little wildflower that is invisible to others, you hear the song of a toad at dusk, you see and hear the way people do and say things. These all become part of your storehouse and sooner or later they appear somewhere in your writing.

– you are a writer all the time. You have a full time job, you are a student, a busy mother, a caregiver to an aged relative. In all you do you find insights, nuggets of truth, startling images, moments of tenderness, moments of hilarity, and you tuck the memories away to be brought out when you sit down with a pen or at a keyboard.

– you are delighted to hear a reader repeat something you wrote that gave him new light on a subject, even if he can’t remember who wrote it.

These words, from the chorus of “God rest ye merry, Gentlemen,” nicely sum up the intended impact of the birth of Jesus Christ. The angel who first appeared to the shepherds said, “Fear not: for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” After the shepherds had seen the Christ child with their own eyes, “they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.”

How will we celebrate the Saviour’s birth this year? We cannot bring tidings of comfort and joy, unless our own hearts and lives have been filled to overflowing with comfort and joy. Perhaps that should be the beginning of our preparation for Christmas. May we, like David, ask God to “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me . . . Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.” (Psalm 51:10, 12). Then, says David, “O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise” (verse 15).

With each year that passes the world seems to be in more desperate need of tidings of comfort and joy. This is the season when every one who truly knows Jesus Christ, each in their own way, may take part in making known abroad tidings of comfort and joy. Gifts and food all have their part in this season, but they are not the essence of the season. I’m thinking more of words: words of cheerful greeting, of comfort to the lonely and sorrowing, of encouragement to the downhearted; words sung in carols and words written to those far away. May our words be words of comfort and joy.

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All the material posted here is written by me, Bob Goodnough, unless specifically attributed to another author, and is copyright. Feel free to re-blog any post but please include my name as author and this blog as the source.